Judge orders deep-sea treasure hunter to help find coins...

[ARC]

Judge orders deep-sea treasure hunter to help find coins

 

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[kingskid1611]

I didn't see what his reward for helping would be. Is it supposed to be for free?

 

[ARC]

Um... a judge ordered it. heh
I would think the reward would be keeping the judge from "throwing the book at ya".

He is facing sentencing the 24th.

 

[kingskid1611]

With his age of 63, he could drag his feet a lot and it wouldn't get the judge anywhere. They would have to bribe me with getting off scot free and also a little of the booty in order to give it up.

 

[ARC]

Well... the outcome of this will be very interesting...
He is 63... not a young buck anymore... doing any real time for him would eat up his "life"...
But...
Weighing his options...
Do time... keep coins.
Give up coins... get time served and probation. (possible sentence ?)

So...
Do time... come out still rich... IF he makes it through... and depending on possible time.
Don't do time... and die poor.

 

[kingskid1611]

Not sure what kind of time he would be looking at but it cant be more than 5 years or so. I am thinking stick it out unless they will give pardon and some of the booty....

 

[ARC]

5 years at 63 aint no joke k-kid.
heh.

What would you pay for 5 years ?
That's why I say this outcome is going to be very interesting.

 

[AUVnav]

From what is known, this article appears incorrect.

The issue at hand was the 500 re-strikes that were last known to be in safe keeping in Belize or someplace....

"The plea agreement that Thompson signed in April requires him to tell the other parties where he has hidden the gold, which Szolosi said includes 500 coins Thompson had stamped from gold bars. The coins are worth an estimated $2.5 million."

 

[capt dom]

I can see the original investors being P.O. ed about not getting a share... (Is this actually true?) But, the bottom line is whose fault is this actually.
Tommy put together one hell of an organization and accomplished a feat that was considered impossible... But, he did it... He should be allowed to take something for his accomplishments. There is a saying, "No good deed goes unpunished".....

Does anyone know the REAL story on how the lawyers, marketing gurus and what ever other den of thieves actually did to get the investors and the crew participants so screwed??

 

[Mackaydon]

Capt dom
His technical accomplishments were trumped by his greed.
What he can take for his accomplishments is the memory (while in prison) of how he screwed his investors.
Hopefully, he'll also think of how he messed up his own life in the process AND the success he would still be enjoying had he gone 'straight'.
Don......(one of your former lessees at Jupiter)
R/V Explorer

 

[capt dom]

I can see the original investors being P.O. ed about not getting a share... (Is this actually true?) But, the bottom line is whose fault is this actually.
Tommy put together one hell of an organization and accomplished a feat that was considered impossible... But, he did it... He should be allowed to take something for his accomplishments. There is a saying, "No good deed goes unpunished".....

Does anyone know the REAL story on how the lawyers, marketing gurus and what ever other den of thieves actually did to get the investors and the crew participants so screwed??

His author told me, "Ship of Blue"... was not the real story and that Tommy had complete editorial rights on its writing... It never ceases to amaze me how the curse f treasure can exact its toll on those it often touches

 

[Honest Samuel]

treasure, no matter how much it is worth, does not do a person good, if you are 63 years old in jail, maybe for life.

 

[AUVnav]

Tommy put together one hell of an organization and accomplished a feat that was considered impossible... But, he did it... He should be allowed to take something for his accomplishments. There is a saying, "No good deed goes unpunished".....

Does anyone know the REAL story on how the lawyers, marketing gurus and what ever other den of thieves actually did to get the investors and the crew participants so screwed??

There are volumes of Court documents that allude to the real story.

Investors put in about $12 Million total, thats it. They failed to realize that there was significant other costs in the effort. As you noted, look what Thompson put together for that.
Research and search for the wreck
Purchase of a ship
Design engineering, and fabrication of the recovery ROV.
Salaries and crew costs
Recovery, conservation
sales percentage.

What is not ever shown is what had been paid. The crew HAD been paid, they were on reduced wages as monies ran down. That difference still amounts to almost $7M. Balance that against the $12M invested.

The Court documents show that Thompson acquired a bank loan and an advance from Christies. When CGMG bought the lot, it was enough to pay off the bank loan and Christies. This left nothing to distribute. Again, its all in the Court documents.

Looking at these totals, one can see where the $60M went, and why there was little monies left after the effort.

As shown by the recent recovery, Thompson didnt make off with much if he did, there were still coins and bars stacked in a recovery basket...
Evans, who is with the latest effort, went on record stating there wasnt any treasure unaccounted for (he was the conservator on the Thompson team, and followed the gold as the conservator for CGMG and the exhibit.).

Currently, the contempt issue is but for the 500 re-strikes, minted from recovered gold bars..500 ounces of gold...in reality, whatever the answer, it answers the contempt, and he is free. If he spent them, so be it, if he did not, so be it.

As you noted, what did he get for all of his effort? His 5% portion of the recovery was sold with the deal to CGMG, Thompson got nothing.
Reading the Ship of Gold, it was an significant engineering effort for the day, including many pioneering techniques for search, recovery and conservation. With Kinder as the author, and CGMG fronting the costs for the travelling exhibit and the book, I really doubt if it is a book of lies...previous images in the book and the recent recovery are certainly proof. It would certainly be interesting to see some images of the bottom from the recent recovery, but who knows when that will happen.

There is plenty of proof in the Court document, however voluminous, but vetted in a Court of Law.

 

[ARC]

Welp... "Todays the day" for Tommy.
I wonder if the news wire will post todays outcome.

 

[AUVnav]

The Dispatch carries most of the news, especially when it favors them. Interesting how they did not carry the story about the Admiralty Court denying the ownership of the recovery.

 

[ARC]

You just reminded me.. heh... just found this.

Updated: 3:06 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 | Posted: 3:06 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015

Judges orders hearing for ex-deep-sea treasure hunter


0 0 0 New

The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio —
A judge in Ohio wants an update in the case of an ex-fugitive deep-sea treasure hunter under orders to answer questions about the location of 500 gold coins pulled from a historic shipwreck off South Carolina.

Investors in the 1988 discovery of the S.S. America say Tommy Thompson was evasive in responses on his first go-around Oct. 19 and violates his plea agreement by refusing to say more.

The 63-year-old Thompson must answer questions in closed-door sessions about the coins' whereabouts as part of his guilty plea to a contempt of court charge.

Federal Judge Algenon Marbley scheduled the update for Tuesday, the day he was supposed to sentence Thompson.

Instead, it appears sentencing is delayed to allow more time for Thompson to answer questions about the coins.
- See more at: Judges orders hearing for ex-deep-sea treasure hunter | www.whio.com

 

[AUVnav]

while waiting for the results......

 

[teklord]

Lawyer says ex-treasure hunter Tommy Thompson too ill to answer questions | The Columbus Dispatch

[h=2]Lawyer says ex-treasure hunter Tommy Thompson too ill to answer questions[/h]

 

[ivan salis]

she was "skin" diving I see

 

[ivan salis]

I think its more of a case of "judges orders ship wreck finder to "reveal" where he stashed the loot or to whom he sold the loot to and where is the remaining dough from the selling of it if he sold it ."

cough up the remaining loot or to jail for the rest of your life you go --if he doesn't give up the cash / stash ..they will make sure he never gets out of jail to be able to spend any of it ...count on it and even if he does he will still get a good bit of time most likely ...so he might do do what many pirates of old did ...take the secret of your booty's location to the grave with you .

the man gives treasure hunting a "bad name" by screwing over his investors ..yes he "lived large" on the loot he sold and from not paying back those who trusted and invested with him ...so I have little pity for him ...time to pay the piper , bubby

they used t hang pirates you know ...so going to jail instead is being nice to you really ..free food , and board and medical care...heck you can even write a book all about your "adventure" (but likely you will be sued for any profeit by your investors)